FAMILY TREE TV

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Civil War: the Richards family tragedy

The Civil war was the end of the line for one Richards family who lost all their sons and a son-in-law.

Clarissa Richards Williams not only lost five brothers in the American Civil War, she also lost her husband.

When my ancestor Clarissa Richards was born around 1827, she was one of twelve children born to Christopher Richards, Sr. and Nancy Moore. The Civil War was anything but civil, and when it came, Clarissa's husband and at least five of her brothers served their country and gave their lives for it.

Clarissa's husband died of fever during the war, he was a farmer from Virginia and a father of eight. One of those eight was my great, great grandmother Harriet Isabelle Williams.

Clarissa or Betty as she was known was the sister of Lewis P. Williams who died in 1862 at the age of 13 in Franklin County, Virginia.

Their brother Asa Richards was 22 when he died in February of the same year.

Their brother Samuel M. Richards enlisted in Co. B of the 42nd Virginia Infantry about May of 1861 and died about November 1862 at the age of 21.

Robert Richards was born about 1836 and married Sarah Jane Shilling or Stirling in 1858. He had two children in the 1860 census at the age of 25 and enlisted in the 42nd infantry in 1861. he went AWOL in 62 and was court-martialed and sentenced to 4 months hard labor. He was killed in action in 1863 in Chancellorsville and the remainder of his sentence was set aside.

After the deaths of all her brothers and her husband, it really is not surprising that Betty Richards Williams would not want to lose her son is it?

After Betty's husband and five of her brothers died during the Civil War, Clarissa hid one of her boys in a cave, to keep him from being drafted or caught and hanged by the "Home Guard." Sometimes Isabelle would go with her to take him food. They would walk down a stream bed, so they couldn't be tracked. After the war, Clarissa went with her daughter and son-in-law, who was a minister, to Bluefield, West Virginia. She owned a large amount of land in Franklin County, bought with her husband's gambling winnings (but we have not yet located the land records). In 1910 at age 85, she was living with her son Noah H. "Hank" Williams in Montgomery County, Virginia. *

* This is taken from the book of John Marchel Reed and Anne Cora Nichols Reed by Nancy Mae Little Randers-Pehrson and Glenn Randers-Pherson